


metastable

by PlaidLove



Series: hrid helbindi collection [2]
Category: Fire Emblem Heroes, Fire Emblem Series
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-28
Updated: 2019-09-28
Packaged: 2019-11-06 22:35:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 10,611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17948417
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PlaidLove/pseuds/PlaidLove
Summary: [slight au] It's Hríd's coronation. Helbindi isn't thrilled.





	1. Chapter 1

Frankly the coronation was pristine, beautiful, and _as dull as a piece of ice_ in Helbindi’s opinion. Here he was, up to his gills in the walking ice sculptures that were royalty and the like and he sipped impatiently on the cider-like drink that was being distributed to the attendance. Whatever the drink was, it had just enough bite to keep a body warm in the literal icy halls of Nifl’s palace.

With nothing better to watch for the last hour, Helbindi had studied the perfectly intermingled stone and ice that made up the ceilings. It could be dazzling if he were more sentimental. Even on the ride to Nifl Prince Alfonse had _attempted_ to share with Helbindi how the palace had been carved from a mountain and glacier both. At the time they both - along with Princess Sharena, Fjorm, and… whatever the summoner's name was - had been packed knee to knee into the carriage and Helbindi had promptly forced himself to fall asleep for the remainder of the journey.

Nice kid. He just didn't care.

A waiter passed by and Helbindi swapped his empty glass for a full one and across the sea of heads, Helbindi spotted a familiar crown. But it was too late to look away and he met the the apathetic eyes of Princess Laevatein. He froze, glass halfway to his mouth and she started moving directly towards him by dropping the conversation she had been having and began cutting an unwavering line through the crowd as easily as she would flesh with steel.

The idea of furiously walking away was tempting, but Helbindi remained at his post by one of the stone pillars in the hall. One could as easily deter Laevatein from a target as you could a dog from a bone. She would find him one way or another.

Laevatein came to a military halt inches before Helbindi, looking wildly out of character in formal black feathers and robes instead of her fighting gear.

“You.”

Helbindi tipped his drink in her direction but refused to bow. “Your Highness."

“That is Laegjarn,” ah, so she was sent here in place of her recovering sister. “I am Laevatein. Why are you here.”

Efficient. He had tolerated her most of all back in the day - which wasn't _much_ , but it gave her an unknowing advantage.

“Come as an escort so these two could watch the prince get his crown.”

Helbindi jerked a thumb at the nearby Askrian siblings who had come to represent their parents. Kiran - _that_ was it - had been dragged along and was stupidly staring at their drink while Sharena and Alfonse mingled. Princess Fjorm had vanished early on after arrival, no doubt to get ready for her part in her brother’s crowning.

“ _No._ ” Laevatein grit out, frustrated that he had answered the wrong question. “Why are you not in Múspell. We are making… progress.”

Helbindi slurped his drink. Loudly. “Don't feel like it.”

Laevatein stared at him with growing puzzlement before she stepped back with what seemed to be a dawning understanding.

“I see.” Somehow he doubted that. “You're learning to take your own path, not one made by threats or punishment.”

That was certainly _one_ way to put it. Laevatein looked up from her contemplative stare into nothing back to Helbindi too quickly and he could not school his expression in time. She was right in her own way, and Laevatein nodded to herself and splayed a hand over her chest.

“I am also doing the same. And not just to please Laegjarn. I am… being me.”

“G...good to hear.” While Helbindi managed to keep the question out of his tone he still felt as if he had _missed_ something. How the hell was he supposed to respond to that?

He was spared from having to do so when a horn’s call cut through the air to collect everyone's attention. Laevatein raised a hand, almost as if to reach for Helbindi, but retracted it and turned to face the large ornate doors that were being pushed open once more.

Nearby, a group of women that had been playing soft folk to accompany the guests sprang into a bright fanfare to compliment the brassy line of soldiers that had begun marching their into the hall.

Princess Sharena materialized at Helbindi’s elbow with a gasp in delight. A line of elaborately dressed attendants, clergy, and officials followed dutifully in after the soldiers to pass beneath their raised horns. Elaborate gowns, capes, _everything_ glittered in the midday as if they were dressed in snow itself. Helbindi folded his arms, unimpressed. Nifl was desperate to show off their speed of recovery, but all the finery in the palace could not hide the burn scars where villages had stood or the scaffolding all throughout the capital. At the end of the day all it was was magic, lights, and feathers.

Before long, an important looking woman with one eye had made her way to the base of four empty thrones - one that would remain empty in years to come - and joined the gathered senators. She stepped forward and the senators gathered behind her in a V formation to raise their left hand skywards and the soldiers’ music ended. The silence left the hall as quiet as the air after snowfall.

“Upon the icy wings of the Great Dragon Nifl, we see a future!”

The senators spoke as one in a booming echo that made the hair on Helbindi’s arms stand up. On either side of the deep blue carpet, the soldiers slammed the butts of their sword sheaths to the floor.

The senators continued on, calling upon Nifl’s wisdom and power, but Helbindi wasn’t paying attention. In the frame of the massive doors stood Ylgr, her face oddly solemn even from this distance, and she held aloft a pillow with the royal crown of Nifl. _Atta girl,_ Helbindi thought, even as he saw the stiffness in her legs as she walked. Head high and face determined, she was going to do the important ceremony _right_.

As Ylgr made it halfway through the line of soldiers to the wall of senators, Princess Fjorm appeared in the doorway. Her face was red in stark contrast to her white attire, and Helbindi was surprised she didn’t double over coughing right then and there.

"Who will lead us?” Boom went the senators. Boom went the soldiers.

Fjorm’s shoulders were squared and her voice clear. “Prince Hríd! Second eldest of Queen Ymira!”

“Hríd!” voices demanded from all around Helbindi, causing him and others to jump in surprise.

Leiptr shone in a ray of sunlight as Fjorm held it high and lead the chants of, “Hríd! Hríd!” all the way down the hall to stand opposite her sister and the crown. The hall thundered with noise before the man of the hour at last stood in the doorway.

He looked… impressive, if Helbindi had to say so. Which he didn’t. Not that anyone would have heard him in all the shouting. Even Sharena had taken up the call with the people of Nifl. Crownless, and _glitterless_ in his seafoam tunic, Hríd drew the eye away from the constant shine of snow and ice to himself. A royal dressed with dignity, not with false humility by pretending to be a common man.

Stately, Hríd began moving towards the thrones, the senators, and his sisters. The drum of the soldiers’ ended and two by two, as Hríd passed by, they drew their swords to cross above Hríd’s head and voices died in waves. Until finally, Hríd knelt before the senators who barred his way to the thrones.

Carefully, as if the weapon would shatter like an icicle, the one-eyed senator lifted Leiptr from Fjorm’s hands, raised it skyward, and then leveled the blade at Hríd.

“What say you, son of Ymira. Do you take these oaths of Nifl, to upload the peace and will of its people?”

“I shall.”

“Do you defend those under Nifl’s wings and breath with your heart, body, and soul?”

“I shall.”

“And will you put the people before all else, as protector and guardian of their light?!”

“I shall!” Hríd’s head lifted from its reverent bow to face the powerful lance head on.

“Then rise! King of Nifl! King Hríd!”

 -

Hríd was crowned, Leiptr returned to Fjorm’s hands - just before she had turned to cough as discreetly as she could during the wild cheer of the crowd, and Ylgr had thrown herself at her brother into a hug even before he had sat down in his throne. The senators pledged their loyalty one by one, dukes, other officials, and at _last_ the guests were free once more to move about.

Ceremony, Helbindi thought with a snort. But that didn’t mean he was free from it as Alfonse and Sharena awaited their turn to speak with Hríd. Wisely, the two had chosen to speak with him last so that Fjorm would be free to leave with them - or rather, Kiran, as Helbindi had gathered. It also meant they had spaced themselves greatly between Askr and the Emblian official who had arrived in Princess Veronica’s place.

Nifl’s winters had _nothing_ on the glances exchanged between those two.

Despite - _in spite_ \- of the formal atmosphere, Helbindi couldn’t keep in a guffaw at the sight of Ylgr’s dramatic form as she acted out her painful and agonized death of boredom upon her own throne. Hríd and Fjorm both glanced up from the couple - representatives of a nearby island nation if Helbindi guessed correctly by their royal symbol - they had been speaking to and then followed Helbindi’s gaze to Ylgr.

“My apologies,” Hríd said with a fond smile. “It’s been a pleasure meeting you both again, and I look forwards to re-establishing our trade lines _and_ hearing of your daughter’s naming ceremony.”

The couple took their bows and traded smiles at Ylgr swinging her leg - hopefully in fondness of their own child - and departed. Looking back, it took a moment before Helbindi realized Hríd was looking directly at _him_ instead of the Askrian siblings. But Sharena and Alfonse stepped forward and Hríd stood to shake both of their hands in greeting of his friends.

Gratefully, if for different reasons, Fjorm and Ylgr both left their seats to join the little gathering. Kiran did not join them and stood next to Helbindi instead while the royals spoke.

“What.” Helbindi felt Kiran staring at him.

But they didn’t answer and instead they gave him a tiny tired shrug, leaving Helbindi to decide if he wanted to read into it or not. Sharena spread her arms, welcoming Kiran and Helbindi into the conversation.

“We get to stay at the palace tonight!” Sharena turned back to Fjorm and took her hands to hop in excitement. “You have to show me everything.”

“And I can show you all the secret rooms!” Ylgr made her own grab for Helbindi’s hand and swung it back and forth. He didn’t take it back.

“It will be a welcome relief to have friends nearby so soon after all this formality,” Hríd chimed in with a smile.

How _perfect._


	2. Chapter 2

"And  _here_ is where I hide all of the desserts,” Ylgr hissed in a conspiratorial whisper.

She had shown him a hidden compartment within her bedside table. Not that she needed it, the gigantic bed had swaths of curtains large enough to stow away baskets’ worth of sweets without anyone the wiser.

"Empty, ain't it?”

Wordlessly, Ylgr pulled several cream filled pastries from her pockets. She didn't offer Helbindi any but instead placed them into the false bottom of the drawer.

“Even if I get in trouble, I still get my desserts,” she crowed triumphantly, her hands on her hips.

“And what if I tell on you what you've been hiding?” Helbindi threatened lightly.

“Fjorm was the one who told me where it was, so HAH!” Ylgr countered and shoved the drawer closed.

“Alright, alright, I wouldn't,” Helbindi waved dismissively. “I ain't a snitch.”

“Good.” Ylgr made as if to open the drawer again but left her hand closed tightly around the ring to pull it open. Moments passed without a retort and Helbindi tilted his head, peering down at Ylgr.

“She’s really sick, isn't she.”

Shit. Helbindi reeled internally at the abrupt change of topics and Ylgr's miserable expression. Had anyone talked to her about this yet?

Instead he scratched at his chin and focused his attention to the frost patterned doors that lead out to a balcony.

“She coughed at dinner so much she could barely eat," Ylgr continued as she sank down into her scarf like a turtle. “Fjorm says she has a plan but… what if it doesn't work?”

Right. The visit to Múspell once the coronation was over with. Something to do with Empress Laegjarn, but Helbindi hadn't been privy to the details beyond Commander Anna's firm instructions to keep the Askr family and their friends safe.

He wasn't paid enough to do babysitting again. But then Ylgr looked up at him with teary eyes and he knew he'd been beat.

“...She'll be fine, kid.” Perhaps a lie, but then again his former enemies were much more resilient than he'd thought. “She took down Surtr. A cough ain't sh- ain't anything.”

Ylgr fought a smile at his poor attempt to curb his language and wiped roughly at her eyes. “I guess.”

“And shake some answers outta those two, yeah? You talk a lot, force ‘em to tell you everything.”

\--

Ylgr's caretaker-slash-tutor certainly didn't think highly of Helbindi’s advice when they had come to prepare her for bed. Ylgr had announced her plans for the morning to “shake Hrid and Fjorm down” to which the stuffy tutor sniffed at and then Helbindi once they'd learned who taught her that.

His own room wasn't half bad. The guest rooms had been made with warmer climate in mind, so he enjoyed the respite of drier air and a second roaring fireplace.

Not that he  _was_  enjoying it at the moment. Nifl guards or not, Helbindi still had a job and that meant walking up and down the halls that held an impromptu royal sleepover in Princess Fjorm’s room.

\--

“You'd think a guy would get a full night's sleep for his first day of bein’ a king.”

Hríd started at the voice; in the dead of night anything above a murmur felt too loud, too open. At the archway stood General - no, not a general any longer - Heldindi, looking bored as ever. Hríd wondered if he would ever witness Helbindi crinkling his eyes with a smile. And then he decided he'd like to see that someday.

Instead he sat up straighter on the cool bench, welcoming the interruption of his increasingly weary inner arguments to make room for a second person. “Good evening, Helbindi.”

“Good morning's more like it,” Helbindi scoffed as he entered the garden and careful to stay on the winding path. “Only a couple hours until sunrise.”

Hríd's eyebrows went up, surprised at how quickly the time had passed. “I should have spent my night more wisely.”

“As opposed to staring at flowers? Yeah probably.”

“Something like that,” Hríd grinned, pleased that Helbindi had chosen to join him on the bench instead of passing onto the next hall. “What do you do to fall asleep quickly?”

He watched Helbindi’s shoulders rise and fall in a shrug before realizing his staring was bordering on rude.

“If it ain’t training, it’s the force of habit. No tricks about it.”

Hríd hummed lightly in disappointment to himself. “It’s far too late for a spar. Perhaps I will think of very boring thoughts then.”

Yet here he was content to look out among the flower beds. Many had been reseeded or transplanted following the reclaiming of the palace. There upon the plum tree, bare in its winter season, he could still see the occasional scorch mark.

Beside him, Helbindi crossed his arms and they both fell into a comfortable silence. Hríd had dozens of questions for the man, but here among the blue and white roses he felt they could wait a moment longer.

 


	3. Chapter 3

"You might as well ask what you wanna ask if you’re gonna keep looking at me like that.”

King Hríd had a brief expression that reminded him of Ylgr when she had (poorly) tried to swindle the keys to her and Veronica’s cell from him. Caught. He doubted any of them could lie, period. The wrinkle between Hríd's eyebrows smoothed out from the surprise and he shifted away from the roses and towards him.

“You’re very perceptive, Helbindi,” he was smiling again and Helbindi crossed his arms as if to ward it and the compliment away. It didn’t work. “I do have questions, if you’ll hear them out.”

He considered lying about going back to guard duty, even with his shift taken over by Prince Alfonse, and dismissed the thought.

“No promises I’ll answer any.”

Hríd nodded.

“Would you consider staying here in Nifl?”

Whatever questions Helbindi thought Hríd would ask, that was _not_ one of them. Frustratingly, Hríd got to witness Helbindi stumble for words and for his expression to land on outraged bafflement.

"What- _why_?”

“As Ylgr’s personal retainer or as an advisor,” Hríd said. “She has immense fondness and trust for you, and I believe in her judgement. Not only that, but I would like seek out your perspective and opinion. You have had a unique position in life and I- I find that very refreshing.”

Hríd stood to wave an arm over the freshly planted gardens and Helbindi met his cloudy winter stare evenly.

“Nifl is very sheltered, still even now. From what I’ve witnessed, Helbindi, you are the most honest soul I’ve had the pleasure of knowing in some time.”

“Flattery is free,” Helbindi heard himself saying even when he caught himself looking up at Hríd’s wind burned cheeks.

“You would be well compensated, and given residency here in the palace. Or in the city, if you wished.”

Helbindi managed to refrain from spitting in disbelief. “You’re fucking serious.”

Hríd nodded, expectant and unruffled by the swearing.

“I-” Helbindi looked away and blew out a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding. Damn Nifl royal family. He didn’t even know if he’d take up the offer, blindsided as he was.

Something inside said yes when he cocked his head to look back at this new king. To _really_ look at him. Hríd didn’t stand like a soldier or a tyrant, but solidly, patiently, and with a glint in his eye. Hopeful, not naive.

“If you’ve got work I’m not going to turn it down.” From the way Hríd began to smile, Helbindi had to amend his naive assessment. Maybe he was a little after all. “But I’ve got a job to fill right now. Don’t get your hopes up.”

Hríd stepped forward smoothly and took Helbindi’s hand once again. He didn’t hold it to his heart again, a memory that sent Helbindi’s mind spinning, but he shook back evenly.

“I thank you for considering it. When you return from Múspell our doors will remain open to you.”

“Right.” Helbindi had to wonder how open those doors would be if his sister didn’t come back alive.

“Truly, I am grateful you will consider it. The thought has been pressing on my mind since we last spoke.”

Of course, the promise. Helbindi interrupted Hríd before he could follow that up. He had nothing to ask of the man.

“And your other questions?”

Maybe Hríd was tired or too polite to take it personally, but he nodded. “Several. Some regarding are the position, but I have wondered: how have you been?”

Again, not quite the line of thought Helbindi had been going down. Was this guy yanking his chain? Somehow he doubted it. Hríd seemed to have mistook his stunned expression.

"Perhaps I should have lead with tha-”

“Your Majesty?”

Helbindi and Hríd both jumped at the new voice. Alfonse stood in the archway to the little garden, face pink as he looked everywhere but at the two of them.

Abruptly Helbindi realized how close they had been standing together beneath the plum tree, and of their clasped hands. They released each other’s hand immediately and Helbindi swung around to leave as soon as possible.

Behind him he heard Alfonse apologize for the intrusion - did the kid have to say it like _that_?! - and something about a name. Zacharias.

Well that was none of his business.


	4. Chapter 4

They would leave the capital before midday.

Thankfully, breakfast had been a quiet affair filled only with jaw cracking yawns, pleasantries, and eating. That had all suited Helbindi just fine so that he could focus solely on his meal and to refuel for the march to Múspell - and not to overanalyze the polite “good morning” or glances Prince Alfonse gave him. Even more thankfully Hríd’s attention had been focused onto his sisters, where they had what had probably was the first meal they had had together in over a year.

Almost all together.

Any conversation that stirred up from dawn until they left the castle had some way of turning to the late Queen Ymira or Princess Gunnthrá. It was an echoing sadness that slowly crawled its way in and leeched the joy from everyone like morning frost and by the end of it Helbindi was more than glad to see the doors close behind them all. So he, the Askran royalty, Fjorm, and Kiran all trundled to their awaiting carriages and steeds. Pegasi couldn’t pass the jagged and frozen peaks that surrounded Nifl - that he knew from his rising in the ranks during the invading forces - and they would have to all squeeze into the carriage again until they were closer to decent climates.

Hríd and Ylgr, followed closely by attendants that looked more like harried hens, came to see them off.

“I’m terribly sorry I can’t stay,” Fjorm apologized, holding each of Ylgr and Hríd’s hands in hers. To her credit, she didn’t cry. “And to help with the ceremonies. But I will be back, I promise.”

Her siblings gathered her into a hug even as she started coughing again. Ylgr had been right - it was getting worse.

"The ceremonies and celebrations are being put off,” Hríd told her, even if everyone knew that wasn’t the true reason behind his consoling. “Nifl will be better off putting those funds to the reconstruction efforts than watch a silly parade.”

Helbindi turned away as they finished their goodbyes. Partly because it felt like intruding, partly because he heard someone stepping out from one of the carriages.

“Alright!” Came the cheery but forceful tone of Commander Anna. She dipped into a perfect bow. “I greatly hate to hurry you, Your Majesty, but we really must be going. We’re on a race against the winter weather before the Wolf’s Fang Pass gets buried in snow.”

"I understand,” Hríd dipped his head, and Helbindi spotted Ylgr glaring at Anna from around her hold of Fjorm.

“I’m not done with goodbye!” Ylgr announced, and was suddenly before Alfonse and Sharena to shake their hands. She tipped her head back to put on her haughtiest, most princess-y tone. “It was such a pleasure to have you with us.”

Helbindi snorted in amusement. Ylgr’s little spiteful prolongment would bite them in the ass, but it was worth seeing Anna’s eye twitch when Ylgr insisted Kiran stay with them for holiday sometime.

“Askr has exclusive contract rights to the summoner!” Anna barged in while Kiran, blissful and being polite to Ylgr, was nodding in agreement.

That changed soon enough as the squabbling arose over contracts and loopholes and gods knew whatever the hell they were talking about now. Kiran was on something about lawyers.

The snow crunched and Hríd stepped beside Helbindi. He hated how his stomach abruptly decided it wanted to start flying its way to Múspell, only to get caught fluttering around in his ribcage.

“It will be very quiet without company,” he said, almost fondly, as he and Helbindi watched Alfonse try to break in with reason.

“I would ask a great favor-”

“Yeah, I’ll watch over her.” Cutting to the chase was his specialty, and neither of them would have much time once the bickering moved into the carriage. He looked sideways at Hríd knowingly.

Hríd’s smile of utter relief - or was it gratitude? - was just as dazzling as the sun on the snow. “Thank you.”

“Yeah, whatever.” Helbindi waved a hand dismissively. “She’s an alright kid, it’d be a shame to see her potential go to waste.”

Helbindi could hear the others’ voices evening out. Ylgr stuck her tongue out at Anna and turned on her heel towards he and Hríd.

“...I trust you will also think of my proposal.”

"Bindi!” Ylgr threw herself against him into a hug before he could answer - dirty rotten cheaters, Hríd had to have timed that - and he patted her back even as she tried to squeeze the daylights out of him. Tried.

“Train some more and maybe you’ll be stronger than a wet noodle.”

“I will!” She declared, stepping back to put her hands on her hips. “So you better come back soon and see how good I got!

  
\--

Helbindi watched as Ylgr’s tutor lectured her about something - probably her grammar - until they passed through the palace gates and onto the high street leading out of the capital. He had chosen to ride on horseback to avoid listening to Kiran and Anna and settled back into the saddle with a sigh.

One of the Askran soldiers glanced at him and Helbindi growled “what” at him. Old habits of keeping soldiers in line died hard. Just as the soldier offered a quick apology and faced forwards once again, the shadows of buildings fell over them. Helbindi looked up and into the distance, seeing the distant white peaks and mentally began plotting out how far until the air shimmered with the heat of volcanoes and hot springs.

Then he thought of warmth on his hand, and of a heartbeat under his palm.

“Fuck,” Helbindi spat.

 


	5. Chapter 5

Royalty did a lot of meaningless shit for the sake of appearances, Helbindi groused to himself. But, he supposed that if _he_ had the wealth and stature of a royal he’d be bored out of his mind enough to make up unspoken rules for his entertainment too.

Without the clear drawn battle lines - you die, I live; you live, I die (by various and _increasingly_ horrible ways) - Helbindi felt as exposed as if he were on the simmering planes of southern Múspell. Hired or not, he had to _trust_ in these Askrans to not dump his ass at the next stop, or to hold his life above his head like you would taunt a dog with scraps. His experiences from the Brambles District to sitting with the Múspell generals had been no different.

Being with this Order of Heroes was a new experience and he wasn’t sure if he resented being in this position more or Surtr for being the reason it turned out this way.

 _Nah_. Helbindi flicked away a dead leaf that landed on his sun warned gauntlets. he definitely hated Surtr more. At least now the bastard was feeding the worms - the sole good deed he could offer this world.

Ahead of him he spotted Princess Sharena. She had slipped out of the carriage earlier and now jogged beside the carriages and entourage with the occasional “hello,” and “yes, I’m fine!” called to the guards. Eventually though, she let herself fall back alongside Helbindi’s horse and grinned up at him. He raised an eyebrow at her.

“Training?”

She let out a pleased _hehehe_ in response. He had guessed right.

“I wanted to get in as much as I could before the weather got too bad,” Sharena elaborated, plowing through the churned up slush and mud with relative ease.

“Are those two still bickering?” Helbindi gestured with a jerk of his head to the carriage where Kiran and Commander Anna were. Sharena’s smile strained at the corners and Helbindi nodded to himself; he had guessed right again.

“Not anymore,” she said. Which could mean a lot of things. “But they need to cool down before they can make up.”

Helbindi clucked his tongue dismissively. Maybe the power dynamics weren’t too different after all. Kiran’s ability to create an infinite army was valuable beyond measure - they shouldn't be surprised that Askr’s little military project wanted to keep them close at hand at all times.

“Hup-!” Sharena expertly dodged a too deep rut in the road. Now that they had left the city, the quality of the roads leading to the mountains had plummeted. Especially the one they were on - the one leading to Múspell.

Maybe he’d twist Hríd’s ear into getting them maintained more - if he decided to take him up on his offer as an advisor that was. But then he made the mistake of smirking to himself at the mental image and Sharena spotted it.

“What’s got you grinning, hmm?”

“None of your business.”

Sharena clapped her hands together pleadingly. “Please? It’s rare of you to smile, period! I haven’t seen that kind of grin on you at all before.”

“What, you catalogue this sorta stuff?” Helbindi squinted down at her - it might have been sweet since she had insisted she would befriend him when he had woken up in the Askran’s army infirmary. but it also meant she could be keeping watch on him as a former enemy.

“It’s the kind of thing friends notice!” Sharena said, grinning widely.

Helbindi looked down flatly at Sharena - who was covered in mud from the knees down and red faced from exertion. In that moment, much to his chagrin, he believed her.

“Nope.”

Sharena let out a good-natured, “Aww! Phooey,” and let her face screw up into a false pout.

For a heartbeat Helbindi thought she might try again, or to order or threaten him to spill. But she didn’t. Instead she grinned once more. “You’ve got your reasons then.”

And then the matter dropped.

Not that it stopped Sharena from pestering him about other things. If he had hobbies, what his favorite meal was, and the like. She chatted about the heroes Kiran had summoned and the worlds they were from.

 _Royals_.

Still… Helbindi shifted his weight, let his horse have her head, and tapped his heels into her sides. They sprang forward, heading forwards to the front of the line, and Helbindi twisted back to call to a puzzled Sharena.

“You gonna keep up, or what?”

Sharena smiled brightly, and then with determination in her face and the swing of her arms she picked up her legs to join in this impromptu race.

-

Snowflakes were beginning to gather on the ledge of the little window when Sharena returned. The door flung open and a mud caked princess waved to them all. Fjorm sat too far away to help pull her back into the moving carriage but she shared a giggle with Sharena and Kiran at her filthy state.

“I didn’t know mud masks were popular here too,” Kiran teased.

Sharena looked as if she had fallen face first into the muck and Fjorm pulled out her canteen and a handkerchief to offer. Gratefully, Sharena accepted and wiped the worst of the grit from her face and neck.“I tried racing Helbindi, but then I hit a patch of ice and _splat_.”

Sharena mimed the impact with her hands. Beside Fjorm, and with the ghost of a smile, Alfonse sighed and shook his head.

-

Anna swung out of the carriage an hour before they reached the pass and sat astride her own horse to watch the flow of soldiers go by. The storm had been swift in its arrival - even if the party had left the capital at daybreak they would have not beaten it - and already the heavy snow was getting ankle deep. Anna looked down from the dark skies towards the second carriage that held their supplies for the journey. Upon it and sitting next to the driver, one of the royal Askran mages held their hands aloft and kept the worst of the howling winds at bay.

It made for slow going since the protection only extended so far. Beyond it, the wind cut to the quick with its bone chilling howls. No one was eager to stray far.

But unless they wanted to be trapped in Nifl until spring - or return to the capital to go the long way around the mountain range, which would take _weeks_ even then - the party needed to get through the pass and quickly.

One by one, like fireflies in the grey air, torches lit up. Even someone proficient in light magic managed to keep a weak orb of light above the carriage carrying Kiran and the royalty.

Anna felt her cheeks burn again with embarrassment but didn’t stop to dwell on things. She had higher stakes to prioritize.

“Good idea!” Anna commended the soldier with the magic. Even if the torches wouldn’t stay lit then the light would act as a beacon to prevent strays.

Not there would be much straying possible, Anna looked up at the sheer cliffs on either side of the party. Partially natural, partially man made, the Wolf’s Fang cut a curve through the narrowest part of the mountain range and would spit them out into the narrow desert on Múspell’s border. The wider end started in Nifl, but the path would only be more treacherous the closer to Múspell they got.

They had all overcome worse, Anna thought, even as a strong gust pushed through the wind wards and bit at her face with cold. Easy.

\--

Kiran was, unhappily, left alone in the carriage. Even Fjorm, who shook and sometimes bent over double by her coughing fits had left the little protection they had in the carriage to walk alongside it. The weight of so many people combined with the ever deepening snow was forcing the party to a crawl. So Alfonse, Sharena, and Fjorm had all left to help clear snow from the wheels and alleviate horses’ load.

The window had frosted over, blocking Kiran’s view of outside. Resentment settled in the back of their throat like a bad taste; for being considered so weak and so valuable that even if the future of Askr’s throne could walk in through storm but not them-

What had started out as a joke on Kiran’s part earlier, a witty retort to Anna’s claim, had them quickly realizing otherwise. Anna had been serious in her own weird money grubbing way. Angrily, Kiran wiped away the doodle they drew on the window, realizing they had been drawing home. Somber, cold, and alone, Kiran tried to make themself comfortable in the rocking carriage.

\--

A boulder barred the way forward. At some point a rockslide had happened - recently if the light layer of snow was anything to go by - and so several soldiers armed with lances were tasked to lever the heavy stone up and out of the way.

Commander Anna stood by to oversee and assist. Her red hair the only bit of color that stood out as she and everything else all began to blur behind an increasingly heavy curtain of snow. Helbindi rolled his shoulders, thankful for the thick Askran uniform and cloak to keep the worst of the chill at bay.

“Hello, Helbindi.”

Helbindi looked sideways at the approaching princess with _now what_ written all over his face. “Shouldn’t you be in there?” Helbindi jerked a thumb at the warmly lit carriage. “You’ll be hacking up your lungs in this cold.”

Fjorm smiled, but it wasn’t out of amusement. It was rather sad. “The mountain air can do me no more harm than inside will do me good.”

He considered her for a moment, calculating, before shrugging and spreading his palms helplessly. “Stay then. But stay close and don’t go waltzing off a cliff.”

“I promise.” Just then, Fjorm’s smile turned just the slightest bit merry. “I will look out for you as well, Helbindi.”

Helbindi’s eye twitched. Was she looking to deeply into things, or had she overheard the promise he had made to Hríd?

“Bah, suit yourself.” Helbindi grumbled with a wave of the hand. He decided he didn’t particularly care. Everyone could keep their scheming and double meanings to themselves. He had a job to make sure none of them died and it was as easy as that.


	6. Chapter 6

“Careful! Careful,” Anna dropped from the saddle. Her horse had started to shy and the ground was far too uneven to attempt to rein the damn beast back in. She held her hands up to call for a halt. While the soldiers’ efforts had slowly but surely forced the boulder to move, the stone was also the only thing holding back a torrent of rock and ever increasing snow.

Two of the five let off on their lances and stepped back as more snow trickled down their cloaks and necks; pebbles skittered to the ground and the mass stopped its lurch forward. Easing their lances out, the remaining soldiers stepped back as well. They would have to do it in bits, Anna thought as she tapped a finger to her chin, at least until the boulder was rolled far over enough for the carriages to go over the mess. Dark would come faster than her whole platoon could clear it away and they still had more than half of the pass to get through.

Anna turned back to the rest, hands on her hips, to evaluate. Time was of the essence, but so was caution. Alfonse was helping Kiran down from the carriage - they could be so stubborn sometimes! But Anna would have to deal with that situation later - and Sharena was moving up and towards Anna, still dreadfully caked in cold mud. A change of clothes for Sharena was in order, and while they had packed, all of their supplies were stowed-

A light went off above Anna’s head. She would have the pots and pans taken out, as well as the latrine shovels. With everyone divided up into teams (Kiran included, which might help start to ease the burn of their argument), they could all start taking the burden  _ off _ of the boulder and to make a bridge-

The boulder moved.

Left to teeter on edge and propelled forward by the weight behind it, the boulder rolled over as easily as a baby in a crib. Anna turned as she heard the  _ clack _ of rocks hitting, and then there was snow barreling down upon them all.

\--

Fjorm burst through the surface coughing. Her face was wet with snow and tears and Fjorm struggled to breathe while her body insisted it needed  _ everything out _ \- including air. There was grit in her eyes and distantly she realized the wind bit at a wound on her cheek. While in the last months she had felt as if she was freezing from the inside out, now her lungs  _ burned _ with each heave and struggle against the snow pressing against her on all sides.

Time came to a crawl as Fjorm struggled. Struggled to breathe, to dig herself out, to know where she was, and what happened. She freed an arm and wiped her eyes clear before snow blew into them again. Barely an arm’s length away, she saw a hand poking limply out.

Fjorm kicked and clawed the rest of her way out, as desperate as a wild animal to grab for that hand. To pull them out. At last she kicked her way onto her stomach and Fjorm crawled her way over and closed her hand around the stranger’s.  _ I’m here. _

The hand didn’t squeeze back and Fjorm nearly cried. But she didn’t have the time. She had to dig.

\--

Fjorm was joined with others. Others who had stood far enough away, by those who had been by the carriages. Even one of the horses managed to thrash its way out of the drifts and stood trembling in shock farther away.

“Helbindi!” Fjorm called when she recognized the gauntlet on the glove. And slowly she and the soldier with her unburied the man’s face and a leg.

For a gut wrenching moment, Fjorm thought the leg was Helbindi’s -  _ the knee is far too awkwardly bent, he must have broken his back right in two _ \- before Alfonse’s sword hilt breached the surface and wiggled pathetically in the air. 

Helbindi took in a ragged breath as he came to consciousness and Fjorm did cry from relief. With all four moving and digging, Helbindi and Alfonse were uncovered and dragged out.

“Thank you,” Alfonse managed as he shivered horribly. The soldier who had helped Fjorm dig draped a coat over Alfonse’s shoulders and Fjorm closed her eyes as she realized the coat had come from one of the dead men.

 

“Don’t… mention it,” Helbindi waved dismissively. He managed to stand and Alfonse was soon scrambling to do the same.

Fjorm had already turned away to search for more.

\--

Night had fallen as far as Helbindi could tell. With the clouds and snow darkening the skies, he could barely tell what was in front of his own face. Someone had lit a torch, but the weak light did little as everyone frantically dug.

Helbindi had managed to snag Alfonse by the waist when the snow plowed them over. His horse was dead for sure, but the prince had been smart enough to dig an air pocket for both himself and Helbindi to breathe into before the snow had settled down and left them suspended.

A soldier’s empty eyes stared up at the sky and Helbindi closed them with a swift motion. He moved on, squinting into the dark and cursing with every step that sent him sinking down to his knees.

Something shifted under his foot and like a man possessed, Helbindi pulled back with a shout and dug. His hands felt like blocks of ice, but he kept going. Fjorm and two soldiers joined him and they all just kept going.

Sharena’s hair announced who she was, and soon, but not soon enough, she was being hauled out feet first. Helbindi felt something snag, and looked down to see Sharena’s mouth moving silently - she had no air to call for them to wait - and her hands clasped with a soldier’s.

And then abruptly, with the princess still desperately trying to save someone while  _ she _ was being saved, light fell upon them all. Helbindi turned and squinted into what  _ had  _ to be the sun. It was far too bright, too large, and too close to be torchlight.

“Help!” Someone called out. “We’ve got people still trapped!”

More voices rose up in an abrupt clamor, making Helbindi realize how deathly silent everything had been up until that point, with pleas for help and cries of salvation. The light dimmed and Helbindi realized it was magic just as Princess Laevetein and a dozen others strode out from under the light.

\--

By technicalities, Prince Alfonse was next in command - as both the Askran prince and second of the Order of Heroes. And while Laevetein acknowledged the prince’s skills in strategy and battle, he had none of the prowess in dealing with accidents or snap decisions. So she and Helbindi took the lead.

“Dig where he tells you,” she ordered half of her entourage, to the rest, the ones that knew healing: “You. With me.”

Her caster sent the light higher above their heads and Laevetein surveyed the damage. Helbindi had organized groups of three to four to dig. Effective and they would not crowd one another. Scattered about were the Askran royalty and a few others meant to find the remaining survivors. Or dead. Laevetein looked down.

Princess Fjorm had made her way to her steed’s side, but before she could speak, Laevetein asked, “how many.”

How many  _ missing _ was what she meant, but Fjorm understood.

“Five. Including the Order’s commander and summonder.” Laevetein nodded. “Wounded?”

“There,” Fjorm pointed to the huddled group. Laevetein nodded and reached over her shoulder - not for hew sword, but for her staff.

Fjorm’s eyes were wide. “You know how to heal?”

“It was necessary,” Laevetein answered.

\--

With every minute that passed, Fjorm knew her friends’ chances of survival dwindled. She could have screamed at her selfishness. That her hope was that the next people found were Kiran and the commander. She looked out onto the half recovered carriages and blew out another shuddering breath that fogged around her.

In the corner of her eye she could see the bodies that lay stretched out just on the edge of the light’s range and left to be blanketed in snow. There was no ceremony for the dead in a storm. So Fjorm closed her eyes, willing for the thousandth time that her friends were alive.

Fjorm knew her efforts were best kept to the healers, to tell them best how to treat the shock and cold and frostbite. But she could be searching still. Kiran had saved her, she owed it to them to help them out - even just this once.

The light shone brightly even with her eyes shut tight and Fjorm looked up, wondering why the source had moved. But this light was brighter - like a defiant ray of sun of the dawn.

And it was coming from  _ under _ the snow.

“There!”

\--

Kiran and Anna both gasped and coughed once their little den of packed snow was breached. Anna was laid out across Kiran’s lap, her shoulder and arm covered in frozen blood, and they both raised hands defensively against the incoming light from Laevetein’s caster.

Sharena, arms outstretched for them to grab onto, watched as the crumbled remains of a pendant left Kiran’s hand. The bits of stone and gem, once so intricately carved, seemed to turn to ash in the heartbeat from leaving Kiran’s palm to vanish into the dark. Her chest tightened, knowing how close the two had been from death.

\--

The healer’s tone was reverent when she threw a blanket over Kiran’s shoulders and she trembled from excitement. Kiran trembled from the cold instead. “You can bring back the dead!”

“ _ No _ .” Kiran’s voice was hoarse, and not just from the exertion. “No… I can’t. I’ve- I’ve  _ tried _ . It only works to bring you back from the very edge of death. But not…”

They gestured to the dead soldiers laid out under the harsh light. It felt as white and artificial as the fluorescent lights from home.

“I’m sorry,” Kiran mumbled, even if they didn’t know who they were saying it to the soldiers, their families, or to the survivors. “I can’t help them.”

“But-”

Anna’s hand clasped over Kiran’s shoulder firmly and the healer looked up sharply in surprise. Though Anna’s sleeve was drenched in red, she bore no signs of pain or stiffness. If anything, the commander looked better than ever.

“Kiran is powerful, but not almighty. Let them be.”

The healer stammered her apologies and left, but Anna didn’t let up on her grip of Kiran. Instead, she and Kiran watched as the carriages were uncovered and the dead horses exchanged for ones from Laevetein’s entourage.

“Thank you, for saving me. I know I put so many doubts into you when we were at Nifl, but... “ Anna let go of Kiran’s shoulder to sit beside them in the snow. “Thank you. For aiding us -  _ me _ \- over and over even though we ask so much of you.”

Kiran looked away from the carriage to Anna, face unreadable. When the two of them had been buried, they had no air to spare on these words. But now they did.

“You were the first person I met here, Anna. You called for me, and sometimes… sometimes I wonder if I was kidnapped. Or if I’m some sort of army making machine for Askr. And I feel so silly and  _ wrong _ when I have friends like you, Alfonse, Sharena, Fjorm… everyone.”

Kiran drew their knees up close. “Am I free to leave whenever -  _ wherever _ -I want, Anna? Am I free to go home again if the time comes?”

\--

Anna said something back to Kiran, and their shoulders dropped in relief. But whatever she said was swallowed up by the wind and crunch of snow as someone came to stand by Fjorm’s side.

“Hey.” Helbindi said gruffly, and Fjorm turned to him, feeling like she was eavesdropping on Kiran and Anna’s conversation. “You and me? We’re even.”

Fjorm blinked in confusion. “I… my apologies. I’ve missed something.”

“This whole Nifl ritual with saving someone from the snow deal? You saved me so it cancels out whatever obligation you felt you had earlier.”

Speechless, Fjorm felt her jaw drop. She  _ could _ have explained the nuance of obligations and honor and codes followed in Nifl - if not spoken outright then the ones you learned as a child and kept with you like mannerisms. She could have accepted his terms with a polite nod and smile. But Fjorm did neither.

She threw back her head and laughed. Laughed at the passing of death’s hand, laughed at the sheer joy and relief of having her friends alive and well, and laughed at being alive even if for a short while longer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if it's not clear, kiran used a light's blessing


	7. Chapter 7

The dead would be buried in spring. Quietly, Fjorm sent up a prayer to the great dragon Nifl as Anna set about the difficult task of collecting the badges of jewelry of the deceased. In being their commander she had the difficult duty of sending them back to their families alongside the dreaded letter of condolences. Fjorm didn’t envy her in the slightest. Thankfully, no one made any remarks of Anna’s usual greed but instead shuffled together into a ring around them to say goodbye.

“Let us remember the fallen,” Anna called out in the dark, half lit by magic and torchfire. “We may be in Nifl, but may they rest easy in Askr’s shade. We move on.”

-

“Here,” Laevatein said abruptly from Helbindi’s side, making him jump.

Then there was a letter shoved into his face and he snatched it away to pointedly crumple it in his fist. Laevatein turned away without so much as a backwards glance. She had completed a task and had moved on, her hand in her satchel and making a beeline for a coughing Fjorm. If she had any qualms about being a messenger, she didn’t show it.

Eyebrow twitching in irritation, Helbindi turned his over to see his name had been neatly written on the front in Múspell’s alphabet. But a closer look at the now shattered wax seal showed him it had been imprinted with the royal Nifl crest.

Helbindi immediately shoved the damn thing into his inner coat pocket.

Snow was still falling and they were still out in the open. This was hardly the time to get distracted.

-

Despite the bone deep weariness, the combined companies had moved as quickly as they could throughout the night. With any luck, it would be approaching daybreak once they reached the Serpent’s Tail Desert, and therefore the edge of Múspell.

The air was dry, a good sign in Laevatein’s opinion. Cold or not, it meant desert conditions were ahead, and that meant they were nearing the exit of the Fang. From there, it was only a day’s march - less, if Laejgarn anticipated their arrival and had sent wyvern-

“Here.”

Laevatein presented the second letter to Fjorm. To Fjorm’s credit, she did not jump like Helbindi. But then again, Laevatein supposed Fjorm had not lived the same way someone from Múspell had during her father’s reign.

She judged to have caught Fjorm in the middle of a prayer if her bowed head and clasped hands were anything to go by. Briefly, Laevatein wondered if anyone prayed to Múspell the way others did to Nifl and Askr.

She supposed Laejgarn had, in a way.

-

She dreamt sometimes. Dreamt like her sister does.

Did.

Her dreams are of a woman with sad and ancient eyes. And each night the woman drew closer, but each morning Fjorm forgot. She forgets that she ever dreamed and of the woman with the dagger. But she could never shake the cold that worsened each night.

This time the woman was an arm’s length away. The woman’s head was bowed and her hair was a frozen waterfall that curtained across her shoulders while she whispered to her blade.

“Not yet.”

“Until what?” Fjorm asked, even though she knew.

The woman looked up and startled Fjorm. She had sad eyes but they were also _dead_ eyes. There was no life inside her. While they stood and stared at one another, dense fog seeped in around the two of them in thicker and thicker swaths until Fjorm could not see below her waist. Even as curious as she was, she could not turn her own head to look beyond.

“Nifl approaches. Please, make your goodbyes.”

Fjorm opened her mouth to ask who she is, what happens _after,_  and would she see Gunnthrá and her mother-

Instead, the fog closed over her and the woman as it did every night, and sank down into Fjorm’s skin and to her bones. Nifl’s breath grew colder and so did she.

Then Fjorm was awake and coughing again. She had been placed back in the carriage, she realized once the worst of the fit had passed. An embarrassed blush burned across her cheeks - embarrassed at the idea that others thought her, a princess of an _ice kingdom,_  too weak to handle a little storm.

Fjorm put a hand to her face to push away the guilt - someone must have had to have carried her in, she had no memory of getting in the carriage herself. She must have slowed everyone down - and sat up. There was simply no time to be sorry for herself when her friends were pushing themselves for the chance that they could save her.

Something fluttered to the floor and Fjorm picked it up. The letter that Laevatein had given her. Or attempted to, Fjorm thought sourly even while she pulled the contents from the envelope, before she had coughed herself into unconsciousness. Hríd’s handwriting, including the much messier one that was surely Ylgr’s, stared up at her and Fjorm felt comfort.

 

 

> Dear sister;
> 
> I write to you in haste, and apologize for the abruptness, for Princess Laevatein has agreed to pass along a message even as she departs within the hour.
> 
> We pray for your safety, Fjorm. I beg for your forgiveness that neither of us are with you at this time. I beg for your forgiveness that I chose to wear the crown before aiding you. _(I wanted to sneak into the carriage, but I got caught.)_

“There’s nothing to forgive,” Fjorm said to the letter.

> Time and distance will keep us apart for now, but both I and Ylgr will send letters once a week until your return to us in Nifl. _(We’ll throw a party!)_
> 
> May we see each other in our dreams.
> 
> With love;
> 
> Hrid _(and Ylgr!)_

Even with her very soul weighing heavy with icicles and fog, Fjorm could feel the kindle of love. She could - _would_ \- keep going, aided by her friends’ and family’s warmth.

-

Fjorm had clearly been reaching for the door’s handle when Sharena flung it open with a happy laugh. She smiled all the more brightly at Fjorm’s surprised blink.

“We’re here!”

 _Here_ being the exit to the Fang’s Pass and a precarious path that wound its way down to the edge of Múspell’s western border. The snow storm had fruitlessly thrown itself against the peaks of the mountains and failed to chase after them. While snow still crunched under Fjorm’s boots, it was a paltry dusting compared to the drifts deeper in the pass. Down the trail, where people had begun to walk two by two, she could see the sun rise to cast vivid purples and oranges across the land and Sharena’s face.

“How are you feeling now?”

“Hopeful,” Fjorm answered, truthfully, even when her lungs twinged.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me @ book three's canon: i don't know her


	8. Chapter 8

Every single _damn_ time Helbindi moved he felt that damn letter crinkle stiffly against his chest. Damn thing would burn a hole in his pocket at that rate. Even as he leaned back with his hand to shade his eyes from the midday sun to look for a speck of shadow, the outline of the envelope made itself known again. Again, no wyvern.

Hours ago, while the conjoined Askr and Múspell parties cautiously made their way down the mountain via a narrow cliffside passage a wyvern messenger had met with them to declare herself from Empress Laegjarn’s entourage.

“Urgency is utmost,” the rider had spoken in clipped tones. “Now that I have located you, I will return with other wyvern to bring Princesses Laevatein and Fjorm down the mountain. Your parties may travel with Her Highness' entourage once you reconvene at the desert entrance.”

Helbindi turned his attention to Fjorm, who had stubbornly insisted that she walk as far as possible with the insistence that a horse would be too slow given the unsafe terrain. Kiran, Alfonse and Sharena flanked either side of her while Laevatein had vanished beyond a turn up ahead. She had been surprisingly amiable with the lot, even had gone so far to smile - _smile!_ \- at one of Princess Sharena’s quips before the messenger had arrived. Given the ashy pallor to Fjorm’s face, not even accounting for her bone rattling couch, and the messenger Helbindi wasn’t surprised to learn later that Laevatein had marched her way past even the forward scouts.

Behind him, a horse knickered uneasily and Helbindi looked immediately to the sky again. Diving down from the clouds in a V formation came five wyvern. Speedy beasts from what Helbindi knew of their breeds. As they drew closer, Helbindi spotted the lead, splashed in gold and orange markings, with the empress herself second.

Helbindi rolled his shoulders to dislodge the uneasy feeling he had had since leaving Askr - he had not seen Laegjarn since she’d let him go those months past and didn’t relish the thought of _another_ Múspell royal reminding him of what was going on in its reconstruction. The less he knew the better.

There was a minute of mad scramble when people tried making room for the obnoxiously large beasts while Alfonse called an order for someone to notify Princess Laevatein - out of the corner of his eye Helbindi watched a scout go darting down the trail. It probably wasn’t necessary given the bray of the remaining horses and loud echoing calls of the wyvern as they landed.

Somehow, as if the great dragon Múspell had arranged it, a ray of light spilled over the mountains to cast down directly upon Empress Laegjarn and her angular rams horn crown. But even while something settled in Helbindi at not seeing Surtur’s old crown - had it been melted in his defeat? Or had Laegjarn cast it aside in her rule - he caught her gaze.

Rather, he _would_ have, if her eyes hadn’t been clouded over.

-

“Her Highness, Empress Laegjarn!”

Fjorm noted the minute tensing of Laegjarn’s lips - she clearly thought the formality wasn’t necessary either. Regardless, she and her friends all bowed.

“I thank you for holding off on the titles, Sophus,”  Laegjarn said, causing her attendant to blush to her ears.

“Princess Fjorm, it is good to see you again,” Laegjarn continued, “even if my definition of ‘ _see’_ is very tepid at best. As well as you, Kiran, Alfonse, Sharena, and Anna.”

Anna had muscled her way to the front of the gathering to bow as well, Fjorm saw as she strode forward.

“I understand there is much we need to catch up on,” Fjorm said and Laegjarn’s face turned her way. Despite herself, and the fact Laegjarn could apparently _not_ see her, Fjorm felt her face warm at the woman’s attention.

“Indeed. Though we shall have to wait until we have completed the rites to do so.” Laegjarn’s head lifted, as if to look out amongst the crowd. “Where is my sister?”

“HERE! Laegjarn, I am here!” Laevatein burst out from the ranks, face red and winded. She climbed into the saddle of the wyvern to Laegjarn’s right without preamble and with the skill of a learned flier. “Please, we must be on our way.”

Laegjarn nodded. “Princess Fjorm, if you please.”

Fjorm knew, though she did not know how or why, that time was not on their side. Still, a part of her felt the cool of loneliness that she would not have all of her friends at her side.

“Yes,” Fjorm said, abruptly realizing Laegjarn could not have seen her nod of acknowledgment.

“Not without me!” Sharena shouted, startling Fjorm and causing one of the wyvern to lift its wings defensively. She clasped her hands over her mouth. “Oops, sorry.”

“Sharena-” Fjorm began. Alfonse stepped up beside his sister, hand on her shoulder and with a warm grin.

“I would also like to request to accompa-”

"Now, now, hold on a moment!” Commander Anna, arms waving in a negative manner, and Helbindi both stepped forward before Kiran cpuld offer to go as well.  “There is no way I can allow _all_ of you to go off into dangerous territory without accompaniment.”

Laegjarn’s eyes narrowed, her voice cool, “Commander Anna, should your concerns lie with Múspell’s honor, I assure you I will see no harm come to them. I consider both Nifl and Askr to be allies and friends.”

Anna flushed as red as her hair as she realized how she had misspoken. “I- Your Highness, I did not mean that you or anyone from Múspell is untrustworth-”

“By the _flames_ this is taking forever,” Helbindi groaned in exasperation and rubbed between his eyebrows. Laegjarn’s attention refocused on where he stood, face carefully neutral.

Helbimdi continued with a spared defiant glance at the empress. " _Lo_ _ok,_ you hired me to watch over these three and Princess Fjorm, right? Then I’ll go and make sure they don’t go falling off the saddle or walk into an acid spring.”

“I- well, I suppose…”

Laegjarn cleared her throat. It was not a quiet noise. Fjorm smiled, eyes soft at her friends.

“Sharena did say she wanted to go _first_ ,” Kiran offered, and then mentioned something that involved the word ‘shotgun’ that Fjorm did not understand.

Alfonse sighed in his oft diplomatic - but mostly resigned and long suffering - manner. “We shall catch up to you, Fjorm, as soon as we make our way down.”

“Thank you,” Fjorm said. And then Sharena took her hand.

-

Anna, Alfonse, and Kiran all waved up to them as the wyvern took them higher and higher. Helbindi had been on wyvern back several times for an assessment of the terrain when he had been a general, but it never got easier.

“Please hang on tightly, General!” Einar, the wyvern lord of this damned beast, said. “The winds are very choppy with that storm nearby!”

Helbindi bit back a retort and looked away from the soldiers down below. He could no longer tell who was who now that the parties had resumed their march and turned his attention towards the mountaintops. The ugly purples and greys that had been the winter storm would not go far past the peaks, but the winds still spilled over in irratic gusts, and he knew that the pass was filling in fast with snow.

The letter pressed against him as Helbindi held onto Einar. Maybe he’d read it when they landed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you have read "tempered, temperate" by seventhsky then you probably have an idea where this is headed


End file.
